Base miles



palewin said:
Something sounds wrong here. First, L3 is Tempo and L4 is Threshold - neither of these are "base mile" ranges. I'll really stick my neck out and guess that most of us, esp. at this time of year, aren't doing more than 60 minutes of L4 in a daily ride; I typically end up with about 45 minutes of L4 in intervals greater than 10 minutes or so (i.e. there may be more time in L4, but I don't count the 1 & 2 minute stretches of climbing, etc.). And typically a workout is either L4 or L3 intervals (not both in one ride), and even in L3, I don't think many people put in more than an hour or so at Tempo. (Now, before Fergie appears, I'm talking about Masters and lets say cat3/4 riders, not professionals, world-class amateurs, or the genetically gifted abnormal ones ;) .) But back to basics - if you've only been riding for 3 months (I think you said that in an earlier post) I think most of your riding would be L2/L3 (and not as specific intervals) with some low-end L4. Its been mentioned in other threads that you can see huge improvements simply by accumulating L4 time, without doing anything in L5/L6 (and certainly not in January!). If you're having fun with those high-end intervals, fine, but if you're doing them because you feel you're supposed to, I think you're working too hard for someone quite new to the sport.
We must be talking about different levels then. L3 is endurance, L4 is tempo, L5 is threshold, and L6 is anaerobic. Thats the levels I've been using at least. Sorry if there was a miscommunication.
 
ToffoIsMe said:
We must be talking about different levels then. L3 is endurance, L4 is tempo, L5 is threshold, and L6 is anaerobic. Thats the levels I've been using at least. Sorry if there was a miscommunication.

I would consider L3 and L4 training as part of my base. Once I know I could do 125% of road race duration at L2 I wold start to add in L3 and some L4 work building up to race duration at L3 and hitting L4 on climbs. I would not want to do too much interval work (even L4) just yet to keep something in reserve when actual big races were close.

Hamish Ferguson
Cycling Coach
 
ToffoIsMe said:
We must be talking about different levels then. L3 is endurance, L4 is tempo, L5 is threshold, and L6 is anaerobic. Thats the levels I've been using at least. Sorry if there was a miscommunication.

I would consider L3 and L4 training as part of my base. Once I know I could do 125% of road race duration at L2 I wold start to add in L3 and some L4 work building up to race duration at L3 and hitting L4 on climbs. I would not want to do too much interval work (even L4) just yet to keep something in reserve when actual big races were close.

Hamish Ferguson
Cycling Coach
 
For someone just getting back into competitive cycling after a 14-year layoff, can you please let me know what Levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc., would mean in terms of % of Max HR? Whose methodology are you referring to?

I am not rich nor good enough to own power training equipment, so I am stuck with using a HR monitor for now. I get more and more confused when I read of the different zones people use. For now, I am using the revised ABCC/BCF guidelines, with a Max HR of 190 (that's been my max in my last two training crits):

Zone 1 - 60-65%: 114-123 Endurance, base
Zone 2 - 65-75%: 123-142 Endurance, base, aerobic
Zone 3 - 75-82%: 142-155 Aerobic, tempo
Zone 4 - 82-89%: 155-169 Race, tapering
Zone 5 - 89-94%: 169-178 Anaerobic threshold
Zone 6 - 94-100%: 178-190 Sprints, intervals

I have been spending most time in Zones 1-3 (1,500 miles)...my brief foray into Zones 5 & 6 (2 races and 3 days of intervals within 8 days) brought about some patellar tendinitis, so it's back to Z1-3 for more base.

Anyway, are these the zones that are referred to in the earlier posts?

thanks for your help.
 
For someone just getting back into competitive cycling after a 14-year layoff, can you please let me know what Levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc., would mean in terms of % of Max HR? Whose methodology are you referring to?

I am not rich nor good enough to own power training equipment, so I am stuck with using a HR monitor for now. I get more and more confused when I read of the different zones people use. For now, I am using the revised ABCC/BCF guidelines, with a Max HR of 190 (that's been my max in my last two training crits):

Zone 1 - 60-65%: 114-123 Endurance, base
Zone 2 - 65-75%: 123-142 Endurance, base, aerobic
Zone 3 - 75-82%: 142-155 Aerobic, tempo
Zone 4 - 82-89%: 155-169 Race, tapering
Zone 5 - 89-94%: 169-178 Anaerobic threshold
Zone 6 - 94-100%: 178-190 Sprints, intervals

I have been spending most time in Zones 1-3 (1,500 miles)...my brief foray into Zones 5 & 6 (2 races and 3 days of intervals within 8 days) brought about some patellar tendinitis, so it's back to Z1-3 for more base.

Anyway, are these the zones that are referred to in the earlier posts?

thanks for your help.
 
teetopkram said:
For someone just getting back into competitive cycling after a 14-year layoff, can you please let me know what Levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc., would mean in terms of % of Max HR? Whose methodology are you referring to?

I am not rich nor good enough to own power training equipment, so I am stuck with using a HR monitor for now. I get more and more confused when I read of the different zones people use. For now, I am using the revised ABCC/BCF guidelines, with a Max HR of 190 (that's been my max in my last two training crits):

Zone 1 - 60-65%: 114-123 Endurance, base
Zone 2 - 65-75%: 123-142 Endurance, base, aerobic
Zone 3 - 75-82%: 142-155 Aerobic, tempo
Zone 4 - 82-89%: 155-169 Race, tapering
Zone 5 - 89-94%: 169-178 Anaerobic threshold
Zone 6 - 94-100%: 178-190 Sprints, intervals

I have been spending most time in Zones 1-3 (1,500 miles)...my brief foray into Zones 5 & 6 (2 races and 3 days of intervals within 8 days) brought about some patellar tendinitis, so it's back to Z1-3 for more base.

Anyway, are these the zones that are referred to in the earlier posts?

thanks for your help.
My zones are as follows:
Zone 1-recovery: 127-158bpm
Zone 2-aerobic: 158-174bpm
Zone 3-Endurance: 175-182bpm
Zone 4-Tempo: 183-194bpm
Zone 5 (5a)-Threshold: 195-199bpm
Zone 6 (5b)-Anaerobic: 200-206bpm
Zone 7 (5c)-Max heart rate: 207-210bpm

Does this sound right to the more experienced riders on here? From what I've seen and been told in this thread so far I'm not too sure if it is or not.
 
teetopkram said:
For someone just getting back into competitive cycling after a 14-year layoff, can you please let me know what Levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc., would mean in terms of % of Max HR? Whose methodology are you referring to?

I am not rich nor good enough to own power training equipment, so I am stuck with using a HR monitor for now. I get more and more confused when I read of the different zones people use. For now, I am using the revised ABCC/BCF guidelines, with a Max HR of 190 (that's been my max in my last two training crits):

Zone 1 - 60-65%: 114-123 Endurance, base
Zone 2 - 65-75%: 123-142 Endurance, base, aerobic
Zone 3 - 75-82%: 142-155 Aerobic, tempo
Zone 4 - 82-89%: 155-169 Race, tapering
Zone 5 - 89-94%: 169-178 Anaerobic threshold
Zone 6 - 94-100%: 178-190 Sprints, intervals

I have been spending most time in Zones 1-3 (1,500 miles)...my brief foray into Zones 5 & 6 (2 races and 3 days of intervals within 8 days) brought about some patellar tendinitis, so it's back to Z1-3 for more base.

Anyway, are these the zones that are referred to in the earlier posts?

thanks for your help.
My zones are as follows:
Zone 1-recovery: 127-158bpm
Zone 2-aerobic: 158-174bpm
Zone 3-Endurance: 175-182bpm
Zone 4-Tempo: 183-194bpm
Zone 5 (5a)-Threshold: 195-199bpm
Zone 6 (5b)-Anaerobic: 200-206bpm
Zone 7 (5c)-Max heart rate: 207-210bpm

Does this sound right to the more experienced riders on here? From what I've seen and been told in this thread so far I'm not too sure if it is or not.
 
ToffoIsMe said:
My zones are as follows:
Zone 1-recovery: 127-158bpm
Zone 2-aerobic: 158-174bpm
Zone 3-Endurance: 175-182bpm
Zone 4-Tempo: 183-194bpm
Zone 5 (5a)-Threshold: 195-199bpm
Zone 6 (5b)-Anaerobic: 200-206bpm
Zone 7 (5c)-Max heart rate: 207-210bpm

Does this sound right to the more experienced riders on here? From what I've seen and been told in this thread so far I'm not too sure if it is or not.
Where did you get these from? They sound ok to me, but the confusion lies in many of us using the Coggan zones, which are slightly different.
 
ToffoIsMe said:
My zones are as follows:
Zone 1-recovery: 127-158bpm
Zone 2-aerobic: 158-174bpm
Zone 3-Endurance: 175-182bpm
Zone 4-Tempo: 183-194bpm
Zone 5 (5a)-Threshold: 195-199bpm
Zone 6 (5b)-Anaerobic: 200-206bpm
Zone 7 (5c)-Max heart rate: 207-210bpm

Does this sound right to the more experienced riders on here? From what I've seen and been told in this thread so far I'm not too sure if it is or not.
Where did you get these from? They sound ok to me, but the confusion lies in many of us using the Coggan zones, which are slightly different.
 
whoawhoa said:
Where did you get these from? They sound ok to me, but the confusion lies in many of us using the Coggan zones, which are slightly different.
A Tacx Grand Excel's software put the chart together for me when it was given some info such as max heart rate, weight, max wattage, etc.


I wasn't aware that there were different sets of zones. Could someone please explain what they all are and how they differ from one another?
 
whoawhoa said:
Where did you get these from? They sound ok to me, but the confusion lies in many of us using the Coggan zones, which are slightly different.
A Tacx Grand Excel's software put the chart together for me when it was given some info such as max heart rate, weight, max wattage, etc.


I wasn't aware that there were different sets of zones. Could someone please explain what they all are and how they differ from one another?